Tiki was the theme at the home state of rum, Queensland. To the cheerful crowd in attendance, Queensland’s finest put on quite a show, however it was The Laneway’s Perryn Collier who shone.
Right behind in the standings was an inspiring Krystal Hart, who stands in contention to receive a wild card entry to the National Final.
Brisbane’s premier waterfront venue, Byblos Bar & Restaurant played host to an unforgettable night to complete the nationwide search for Australia’s finest bartender.
A vocal and supportive crowd were kept methodically bewildered by the steps each finalist took to render their creative and enhancing cocktails.
The adjudicators of the finals were Brendan Osmar from The Bowery, Cal Moore from Canvas and Ryan Lane from The Bowery.
The Angostura Cocktail Challenge asked the bartenders to prepare two creative drinks, the first a spin on an Australian classic – Lemon, Lime & Bitters and the second based on enhancing the flavours found in Angostura Rum and aromatic bitters, within a tight 6 minute window.
A clearly proud Dan Vinson, island2island QLD State Manager reiterated, “the Brisbane bartending fraternity really exhibit their passion for the scene through their continual showing of support for one-another, which was again clear for all to relish last night.”
Monday the 3rd October will see the announcement of the elusive wild card call-up. The 5 vying for the wild card are listed below.
NSW – Ben Blair (The Corner House)
VIC – Nathan Beasley (Black Pearl)
WA – James Connolly (Defectors)
SA – Nittin Terari (The Stamford)
QLD – Krystal Hart (Canvas)
Source: Steven Cipriani, island 2 island